Lebanon Clashes Erupt in ‘Day of Rage’ to Protest Bombing

By Donna Abu-Nasr -
Oct 21, 2012

Supporters of Lebanon’s opposition
March 14 coalition clashed with police following the funeral of
an assassinated security official as they held a “Day of Rage”
protest against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Hundreds headed toward the Grand Serail, headquarters of
Prime Minister Najib Mikati, whom the group has blamed for the
Oct. 19 bombing that killed Brigadier General Wissam al-Hassan.
They pelted police with stones, spurring security forces to fire
into the air to disperse the crowd.

Protesters turned violent after a top March 14 politician,
former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, demanded that Mikati step
down. Mikati’s Cabinet is backed by the Shiite Muslim militant
Hezbollah group, an Assad ally and the main bloc in the pro-
Syria March 8 coalition.

“Leave, Mr. Prime Minister, otherwise you’ll be accused of
covering up for the criminals,” Siniora told the cheering
crowds. “The Lebanese will no longer accept the continuation of
the Cabinet of assassination.”

Al-Hassan, who headed the information branch of the
Internal Security Forces, had investigated several bombings and
plots that the March 14 group blamed on the Syrian regime. Three
people died and 126 were injured in the explosion that killed
him, according to a final casualty count carried by Lebanon’s
official National News Agency.

The unrest has raised concerns about a possible spillover
of the conflict in neighboring Syria. March 14 supporters
gathered at the rally’s venue in Beirut’s Martyrs’ Square,
waving Lebanon’s flag and that of the Syrian rebels fighting
Assad’s government.

‘One Weapon’

“We’re expressing our support for the Syrian people and
opposition to Bashar,” said Ali Majzoub, 16, holding the rebel
Syrian flag.

“From the rebels in Syria to Wissam al-Hassan, one
murderer, one weapon,” read a banner raised at the scene.

The rally took place at the scene of demonstrations that
followed the 2005 assassination of Sunni Muslim former Prime
Minister Rafiq Hariri, an act that March 14 officials also have
blamed on Syria. Public anger over Hariri’s killing forced pro-
Syria Prime Minister Omar Karami to step down 14 days later and
Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon after a 29-year
presence.

The crowds this time were a fraction of the hundreds of
thousands of supporters who showed up for the Hariri funeral.

March 14 politicians including former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Rafiq’s son, were quick to accuse Syria of carrying out
al-Hassan’s assassination.

Simmering Tensions

The bombing has exacerbated tensions simmering in Lebanon
since the uprising against Assad began in Syria in March 2011.
Lebanon is divided into pro-and anti-Assad groups that have
fought intermittently in the northern city of Tripoli and
Beirut. A clash in Tripoli hours after al-Hassan’s death left a
Sunni Muslim cleric dead. Six others have been injured since
then, NNA said.

Some of the protesters today carried the blue flag of
Hariri’s Future Movement and expressed anger at what they see as
a systematic targeting of Sunni Muslims, underlining the
sectarian tensions in the country.

“I am a Sunni and we are being targeted because we’re
saying ‘no’ to Syria,” said Aya Rifai, a 20-year-old student.
“I’m here to say we’ve had enough.”

Hariri urged supporters yesterday to join the rally to
honor al-Hassan as a man “who protected Lebanon from dangers
and exposed himself to an explosion so that you won’t explode
and so Lebanon won’t explode.”

Hariri Assassination

Al-Hassan’s investigations included the 2005 Hariri
assassination. The security official also was instrumental in
the probe that led to the arrest in August of former Information
Minister Michel Samaha, an Assad ally who has been charged with
plotting to assassinate religious and political figures. More
than 20 bombs found with Samaha were prepared by Syrian security
agents, NNA said at the time.

Mikati said yesterday that al-Hassan’s assassination was
linked to his exposure of the Samaha plot. He said that he had
offered to resign so that a national unity government could be
formed in the aftermath of the bombing. President Michel Suleiman urged him to stay on while Suleiman consults the
country’s top officials about the attack and so the country
won’t slip into a political vacuum, Mikati said.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke with Mikati
today to offer condolences. She “emphasized the United States’
firm commitment to Lebanon’s stability, independence,
sovereignty and security,” according to an e-mailed statement
from spokeswoman Victoria Nuland. Clinton and Mikati “agreed
that the U.S. would provide assistance in the investigation of
the bombing,” according to the statement.